Is that nickelodeon an original old piano from the turn of the century?

There have been many player pianos converted into nickelodeons by
rebuilders as well as some beautiful copies made in the past thirty
years.  It is very difficult for a novice to tell the difference in
many cases.  Some examples are the Seeburg H replica's that show up,
and the Edgerton-built replica Seeburg KT Specials.

There are also some Coinola CO and SO orchestrions that have been
built in recent years.  David Ramey has replicated the Encore Banjo
complete with the Encore name inlaid into the neck.  It would be very
difficult to explain in the MMD Digest what to look for when buying one
of these reproductions.

There are many pianos that play the O roll available on the market
today.  Most of these pianos are new or old pianos converted into a
nickelodeon.  There was only one original manufacturer that made a
nickelodeon with the O roll.  These were Coinola instruments by the
Operators Piano Company.

Just because the piano looks old and operates by a coin does not make
it an original old antique collectors piece.  All the old original
nickelodeons I have seen used a motor to drive a bellows that provided
all the air, and this same motor operated the roll drive mechanism.

I have never seen an original old nickelodeon with a sparkle finish on
the drums or any plastic parts in them anywhere.  The small motors
that you might find in your kitchen can opener where never used in old
original nickelodeons to turn the roll mechanism.

If you are ever in doubt then post all the information you can on this
Digest and someone somewhere will probably have an answer for you.  The
above comments are directed toward coin operated pianos made in the
United States.

Don Teach,
Shreveport Music Co, 1610 E. Bert Kouns
Shreveport,  LA  71105
dat-smc@juno.com